Tribute to Four Slain RCMP Officers Infused with a Haunting Celtic Sound
I'll Be Waiting
So meet me at the setting of the sun
Look in my eyes and know my name my dear
Would you tell my sons of all I have done
And tell them why I had to leave them here
Please love me 'cause I have loved you true
And I will wait for you forever here
I’ll wait until the setting of the sun
To kiss your face and whisper in your ear
To feel your warm embrace forever dear
And smile each time you see the setting sun
- I'll Be Waiting: A Tribute To Four Fallen Comrades
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
On March 3, the lives of four members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), were senselessly taken just outside the small community of Mayerthorpe, Alberta. As Canadians watched in horror and disbelief as the details unfolded on television, there was deep sorrow and anger at the senseless loss of life.
Retired RCMP Constable Wayne Burke of Prince Edward Island and Tim Stackhouse, Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, were so deeply touched by this tragedy, that they collaborated their musical talents and wrote and recorded a CD entitled I’ll Be Waiting: A Tribute To Four Fallen Comrades. All proceeds from the sale of this disc will go directly to the families of the four RCMP members: Constables Peter Schiemann, Lionide Johnston, Anthony Gordon and Brock Myrol.
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WAYNE BURKE wrote a tribute song to the four RCMP constables who were killed in Mayerthorpe, Alberta. PHOTO: Mary Ellen Godfrey, The Eastern Graphic, Montague, PEI
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The Celtic Connection recently spoke with Wayne Burke at his home in Murray River, Prince Edward Island about the project. He said, “both Tim Stackhouse and I are Celtic musicians. Tim is originally from St. John, New Brunswick, and is probably one of the finest bodhran players in Atlantic Canada.
“I am with a well-known Celtic band called the Mizzen Men and when the band released a CD a couple of years ago Tim played bodhran on the album. He has since formed a Celtic band in Moose Jaw called Reel Brew.
“I was in St. John’s, Newfoundland, rehearsing with some other RCMP officers for an RCMP charity concert when I heard the news about the killings of the four officers in Alberta.
“Ironically, I had only been in Edmonton last year for the funeral of my best friend, Corporal Jamie Gallaway, who was killed by an armed barricaded person. I went to Edmonton and sang at his funeral. He was three months from retirement and it’s hard to describe in words how I felt, but I was going through the whole thing all over again. These are my brothers.”
Wayne Burke joined the RCMP in 1978 and spent his first eight years in the force in Alberta, first at Fort Saskatchewan, then the City of Edmonton, and finally, Rocky Mountain House.
Proudly speaking about his Irish background, Wayne said, “my ancestors were from Galway and when they came to Canada they settled in Halifax and then moved to Cape Breton where I was born.”
Speaking about how the CD I’ll Be Waiting: A Tribute To Four Fallen Comrades evolved, Wayne said, “Tim called me from Moose Jaw and said that he had awoken that morning thinking about the four members who were killed. He had the lyrics of a song going through his head and he asked if I would take the lyrics and put my own spin on them and compose some music for it.
“That same day I played around with the lyrics until I got the end result. The day of the actual memorial service in Edmonton for the four members, I was watching the service on television, which was a pretty emotional time as you can appreciate, and that was when I composed the music.”
It’s not too surprising then that the song I’ll Be Waiting, has a haunting Gaelic sound and can best be described as something that the Rankins would have put together. Wayne’s son – who is also a musician – added some flute to the CD, along with some Celtic harp and strings, which gives it the very haunting and poignant sound.
The cover graphic was painted by Silvia Pecota and she named it, “Duty, Service, Sacrifice.” It is a very poignant portrayal of an RCMP officer on horseback, head bowed beside a Canadian flag at half mast and riding off into the sunset are four riderless horses.
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To purchase the CD, visit: www.atlanticwaves.ca/tribute, or e-mail Wayne Burke at: wayneburke@pei.sympatico.ca.
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